Nuclear test veterans: 'My dad was treated like a guinea pig'

When David Purse was sent to Australia, he thought it would be a "wild adventure" in a little-explored place.

However, the RAF flight lieutenant's posting to a remote area called Maralinga was to test atomic weapons.

Son Steve, 47, from Prestatyn in Denbighshire, puts his own "unique" condition down to "a rare genetic mutation" caused by radiation.

The Ministry of Defence said three large studies found no link between the tests and ill health.

But a study at Brunel University is currently looking at the possibility genetic damage from the tests has affected the children of personnel.

"Flying through mushroom clouds or watching", Steve believes men were "treated like guinea pigs" and wants recognition for them, adding: "It wasn't an act of God but an act of government."

In all, about 40,000 British personnel took part in the testing of atomic and hydrogen bombs in the 1950s and 1960s.

Most were in the Pacific - the biggest being Operation Grapple, where about 22,000 people oversaw the exploding of bombs in 1957.

Maralinga, in South Australia, saw the first test launches of atomic weapons from aircraft in 1962.

"He was told at short notice and was looking forward to visiting a warm country, a relatively unexplained place, and having a wild adventure," Steve said of his father.

However, he was "close enough to ground zero to see sand to turn to glass" during tests, with no protective equipment.

Steve added: "There was a rope saying 'do not enter' but radiation was in the sand and would blow into food, into their face.

"They would swim in the lagoon, and catch fish that contained highly toxic radiation."

His father died with Alzheimer's disease, but doctors said his skin showed "the level of damage they would expect from someone who had spent most of their life in the sun".

It is his own condition, though, that has caused Steve most contemplation, adding: "It was obvious when I was born something was not right. I was visibly disabled.

"Dad had little with the RAF after he left.

"It was only years later, a friend wrote and said 'do you know the amount of children of service personnel who have had problems":[]}